You Woman Drowned in Luxury!

After dinner, Lu Xiaobei packed up the leftovers and put them in a plastic bag.

"Want to rest here for a while?"

She looked at the shimmering water of the canal and smiled. "Whenever I have nothing to do alone, I like sitting here and watching boats come and go."

"Oh?"

I had watched cargo ships by the Suzhou canal when I was young too, so I didn't refuse and kept her company for a while.

"Ding Han."

After a heavily laden cargo ship passed through the canal, ripples lapped toward both banks. Lu Xiaobei watched them in fascination and said, "Tell me, are the waves in the water this second still the same waves from the previous second?"

"They aren't."

I said calmly, "The rise and fall of waves follow the 'momentum' within the water. Every wave rises with the momentum, but the waves of each second are different. It's like the saying, 'Every generation brings forth talents, each leading the age for centuries.' History is a stage, endlessly replaying entrances and exits."

"That sounds so profound..."

She glanced at me. "I think you're showing off."

I burst out laughing.

"Actually, I really like the idiom 'cleaving through waves.'"

Lu Xiaobei clasped her hands beneath her chin, her bright eyes fixed on the boats in the canal. "Whether the waves before one's eyes are still the same waves as before, as long as you cleave through them, you can keep moving forward instead of constantly looking back at all the unbearable things in the past."

"That was a pretty good bit of showing off..."

I gave a light clap.

"..."

Lu Xiaobei glared at me angrily.

"You checked out Fengyun Internet Cafe this morning. What did you learn?" I asked.

"Nothing. I was too busy playing Crazy Arcade."

"..."

I was speechless. Relying on her clearly wasn't going to work.

"Let's go. We still have two more internet cafes to check out."

"Mm!"

That afternoon, the two of us sneakily infiltrated our second market research target, Thunder Internet Cafe, an internet cafe specializing in MU Online.

Lu Xiaobei opened a computer and quietly observed everything around her.

I wandered around for a bit before finally sitting beside her and lowering my voice. "It's currently two thirty in the afternoon, which counts as peak internet hours, but less than a third of the people in Thunder Internet Cafe are playing MU Online. I saw quite a few playing Digimon World and the newly popular Fantasy Westward Journey. Our internet cafe's server doesn't even have those two games, so I'll add them when we get back."

"Mm!"

Lu Xiaobei nodded heavily, her beautiful eyes gleaming.

"By the way."

I frowned. "How has your income been from setting up your stall in the Old City District these past few days?"

"Just so-so. Some days, I can't even sell a single thing, not even enough to earn back the cost of lunch." She looked helpless. "Do you think people have changed? Tourists are so much harder to fool these days..."

"Damn..."

I nearly spat blood and said weakly, "Who exactly is the one whose heart has changed?"

Then I looked at her and said seriously, "For the development of our Feiyang Internet Cafe, I think you need to restrain yourself. You can't keep wandering around like some street loafer. When business is slow during the day, sit in the internet cafe and open a computer. You're so pretty—just having you there will attract plenty of people to come online."

"Really?"

Lu Xiaobei seemed delighted. She brushed aside the hair by her temple and smiled. "You think I'm pretty too, right?"

I nodded painfully. "Yes..."

Fueling her arrogance was my original sin.

Lu Xiaobei was probably over the moon. She narrowed her eyes and kept smiling at me.

Not long afterward, Lu Xiaobei and I checked out the third internet cafe, Jisu Internet Cafe, which specialized in CS shooting games. Before sunset, the two of us sat by the canal again, taking in the scenery and summarizing what we had learned from our market research.

"Actually, the operating strategies of the other three internet cafes are all quite rigid. Their only advantages are having more computers and better configurations than ours. I think surpassing them is only a matter of time."

"Mm-hmm!"

Lu Xiaobei nodded repeatedly, her eyes full of light.

"You need to make a trip to the game disc wholesale market."

I looked at her and continued, "Buy more promotional posters for popular games like Audition, Legend, MU Online, and CS. Then clean up the ads on our exterior glass windows and put up the posters. We need to create a gaming atmosphere. You need to know that details determine success or failure. Don't be lazy about things that are easy to do."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Lu Xiaobei nodded again. "Ding Han, I've realized that you're really amazing... You understand market research more deeply than I do."

"It's nothing. I'm just good at thinking."

"What are we having for dinner? My treat."

"Does it count as a business expense?"

"It does!"

"Would hotpot be too much?"

"It counts!"

"Then let's keep eating boxed meals."

"Okay~~"

The days passed one by one.

Waiting for Feiyang Internet Cafe's online rate to rise was a long process, like waiting for flowers to bloom. It was a period of market incubation, and there was no rushing it.

But Lu Xiaobei really had changed a lot. She spent most of her daytime in the internet cafe, began mingling with the customers, and even added a group of them as friends, dancing wildly together in Audition!

Seven days later.

Around eight that evening.

Feiyang Internet Cafe was nearly packed. I arrived early and witnessed the grand sight of the vacant computer rate dropping below ten percent during prime time together with Lu Xiaobei. There wasn't even a single empty computer in the entire internet cafe. Business was booming!

Just then, a ding-dong ringtone rang beside my ear. The previous mission had been completed!

[Congratulations, you have completed the daily mission Business Goal (B-rank)! Reward received: Character Experience Points +120,000, with an additional reward: Instance Crystal - Green Scrap Yard (Rare ★★)!]

"Clack!"

A diamond-shaped dark gold crystal dropped into my Dimensional Storage Space!

I was ecstatic. Another Instance Crystal had dropped—my luck was incredible!

"Lu Xiaobei."

I turned around and looked at the beautiful boss behind me. "I'm a little tired today. Will you stay on duty with me tonight? I'll take the first half of the night, and you take the second?"

"Oh?"

Lu Xiaobei asked doubtfully, "Haven't you been resting properly lately?"

"I sleep in the internet cafe every day. When do you think I could possibly rest well?"

"That's true."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll stay with you."

So, after starting the overnight session, I stayed up for a little while before falling asleep. Then, at four in the morning, Lu Xiaobei woke me up. She began managing the server, while I ate a bowl of instant noodles and went right back to sleep, restoring my energy for the sole purpose of using up the new Instance Crystal the next day.

Keeping Instance Crystals in hand would only make them depreciate. Using them and turning them into my own level and combat power was the proper path. Just as Old K had said, you had to learn how to snowball when playing games. Players who couldn't snowball were never experts.

The next morning.

Lu Xiaobei personally went out to buy breakfast. After eating, I used the excuse of going out for a walk and left the internet cafe.

Old City District. Activating the Instance Crystal.

"Whoosh—"

A golden dot began flashing continuously on the game map. It wasn't too far away, about a kilometer or so.

When I sprinted all the way there, I was dumbfounded. An instance Teleportation Gate, resembling swirling stars, had actually appeared on the railing beside the canal. If I wanted to enter the instance, it would look like I was jumping into the river.

I looked around, making sure there were no surveillance cameras nearby. The nearest camera couldn't see this area. I also made sure no one else was around, lest some old man suddenly rush out shouting, "Young man, don't do anything rash!" and create an awkward situation.

Once everything was confirmed, I leaped fiercely into the instance Teleportation Gate!

"Rustle..."

I staggered, and then I was already inside the instance map. Alert ringtones kept sounding by my ear—

[Please note: You have activated the Green Scrap Yard instance (Rare ★★)!]

[You have entered the map: A mysterious abandoned open-air mechanical graveyard in the wilderness!]

[Objective: Destroy the "Rumble Bang Bang Bang" rocket vehicle modified by Goblin Scavengers!]

[Tip: Be careful of the rocket vehicle. It can inflict devastating damage!]

"Squeak squeak~~~"

Just as I was checking the map and familiarizing myself with the environment, health bars appeared one after another in the grass ahead. Then grayish-brown worms entered my field of vision. They were covered in thick shells, their antennae twitching wildly. They had already been drawn in by my presence.

Wild Burrow Worms, level 20, ordinary monsters.

These monsters had fairly low attack and defense, with only 1,000 health points. But their level was high—level 20 in full. For my current level, this meant killing monsters four levels above me, granting at least a twenty percent bonus to experience. The value was extremely high. I could gain the most experience with the least ammunition expenditure and equipment wear. Not bad at all.

The next moment, at least a dozen Wild Burrow Worms charged at me!

I immediately switched my primary weapon to the Roarer and rapidly opened fire at the swarm of burrow worms. Bullets sprayed out densely. There were too many monsters, so I didn't dare underestimate them, much less think about conserving ammunition. Only after emptying three magazines did I finally clear out nearly all the Wild Burrow Worms. When the remaining five low-health worms closed in, I directly switched to sword mode!

"Bang!"

My sword slashed down, origin power surging!

Ground Spike Slash!

In an instant, a dense cluster of spikes burst from the ground in a fan-shaped area before me, inflicting heavy damage on the Wild Burrow Worms!

"553!"

"548!"

"527!"

"555!"

Dense damage numbers erupted. The remaining Wild Burrow Worms were instantly wiped out, squeaking as they turned into white experience light and flew into my body. The sensation of frantically absorbing experience was immensely satisfying. Unfortunately, my level was high now. Advancing from level 16 to 17 alone required 500,000 experience points, so the road to leveling was extremely long. I could only accumulate it slowly.

After clearing that wave of Wild Burrow Worms, I didn't recklessly push forward. Instead, I sat where I was and refilled every magazine before continuing deeper into the instance.

"Ding!"

A WeChat message came from Zhang Ruolin. "Ding Han, what are you doing? Want to come out for drinks tonight? Xiao Bai and I found a pretty nice bar. The live singer is really interesting. If you come too late, Xiao Bai and I might both get picked up. You'll regret it then!"

I was speechless.

Then I took out my phone, snapped a picture of the scene inside the instance, sent it to her, and added a dog-head emoji.

"Damn..."

Zhang Ruolin sent a shocked emoji. "Next time you get an Instance Crystal, remember to bring me along so I can share some experience... I can pay to join the party!"

"Go keep drinking, you woman drowned in luxury!"

"..."

Zhang Ruolin was speechless, then sent a trembling kitten emoji.